Derrick Rose
Derrick Martell Rose (born ) is an American professional Basketball player who plays for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association. A 6"3 point guard who played one season of college basketball, Rose has been described by peers and media as a standout NBA player. His jersey is currently among the top ten sold in the 2008-09 season. A native of Chicago's South Side, Rose won two state championships in high school. Rated by professional scouts as the number one point guard prospect after his senior year, Rose decided to play college basketball for the University of Memphis Tigers where he won 38 games and reached the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament finals. Shortly after his freshman year ended, Rose declared for the NBA Draft and was selected first overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by his hometown Bulls. Early life Derrick Rose was born in Chicago, Illinois to Brenda Rose and was the youngest of four brothers. He grew up an avid fan of basketball, learning to dribble by the age of four. An incident at the age of nine left him with a broken right arm and forced him to become dexterous with his left. As his special talent for basketball grew and the number of city championships won increased, his brothers Dwayne, Reggie and Allan begun to restrict outside contact to him, fearing his road to the NBA would be exploited and derailed by outside parties, such as with the case with former Chicago prospect Ronnie Fields. The brothers chose who Rose hung around with, who called him and always kept an eye on him when he went out. He played AAU ball throughout his life with the Mean Street Express where he was coached by Reggie and played alongside with Indiana prep star Eric Gordon. High school In 2003, Rose was accepted at the Simeon Career Academy and played freshmen and JV basketball in his first year of high school. He wore #25 in honor of Ben Wilson (basketball), a 1980s Wolverine player who was murdered by a gang member during his senior year. Rose wasn't allowed on varsity due to a long-standing tradition that head coach Bob Hambric, who had been with the school since 1980 had; no freshman on the varsity team. That rule didn't lessen Rose's play and he went on to put up 18.5 points, 6.6 Assist (basketball)s, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game and led both the freshmen and sophomores to city championships with a 24-1 record. The year caused reporters to draw comparisons to legendary Chicago prospect Isiah Thomas. After his season ended, Hambric softened his stance and allowed Rose a chance to play on varsity in the state tournament, but Rose declined, wanting the players to get due credit. The next year Hambric retired and Robert Smith was hired, opening the path to varsity. In Rose's much-publicized debut he had 22 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals over Thornwood High School in a sold-out game filled with college scouts and coaches. He led the Wolverines to a 30-5 mark, while averaging 19.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 2.4 steals on the way to a second consecutive Chicago title. Rose's play garnered him his first national award: a Parade magazine Third Team All-American slot. During his junior year in 2006, the Simeon Wolverines broke through and went to the Class AA State Champion game against Richwoods High School, where a fourth quarter buzzer beater by Richwood forced overtime. The score was knotted at 29 late in the extra period Rose made a decisive layup with a second and a half remaining. Richwoods missed and would prove to be the game winnerthe Wolverines prevailed. The title was the Simeon's first since 1984, in Ben Wilson's junior year. Simeon ended 33-4 and Rose was awarded with an All-State Illinois mention, EA Sports All-American Second Team pick and another Parade All-American selection, this time fourth team. Entering his senior year, Rose was beginning to attract more attention. The season highlight was a nationally televised contest on ESPN against perennial power Oak Hill Acadamy. Matched up with hyped junior guard Brandon Jennings, Rose had 28 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds and held Jennings to 0 points in the first three quarters, 17 overall in a 78-75 win Simeon. For his performance, USA Today named him their high school player of the week. That was Oak Hill's only loss of the season. Simeon later won their second straight title, the first Chicago Public League school to do so. Overall, Rose's career record in high school was 120-12. and was named to teams such as McDonald's All-American Parade First-Team and a USA Today All-American. He also played in the Jordan Brand All-Star Game and Nike Hoop Summit. College Rose accepted a basketball scholarship to play for the University of Memphis Tigers under John Calipari, who recruited him after seeing the high schooler cry in a AAU game. Despite strong efforts by the Indiana University and University of Illinois, he gave his verbal commitment before his senior year. Rose switched to #23 in honor of his favorite athletes LeBron James and Michael Jordan. With the addition of Rose and veteran teammates Joey Dorsey and Chris Douglas-Roberts, the Tigers started out 2007-08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season ranked third in the nation. Memphis sprinted to a 26-0 start and claimed the number one ranking in the country for the first time in over 25 years before falling to the University of Tennessee Volunteers 66-62. Memphis was able to bounce back and capture the 2008 Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament to qualify for the "2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament" at a 33-1 record. Rose averaged 14.9 points per game, 4.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game during the regular season and earned 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans among others. He finished as a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, as well as the John R. Wooden Award. Memphis was ranked as a No.1 seed in their region and found their way into the Final Four. Rose earned high praise for his increased focus on defense, hounding Texas Longhorn D.J. Augustin into a low-percentage game in crucial games. In a match-up against the UCLA, Rose finished with 25 points and 9 rebounds while applying defense on Bruins' point Darren Collison to lead the Tigers to the the NCAA championship game against the University of Kansas Jayhawks. The win set a NCAA mark for most wins in a season (38). Rose scored 17 points on 7-17 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and dished seven assists against the Jayhawks, but missed a crucial free throw at the end of the 2nd half to lose in overtime 75-68. Memphis concluded the season 38-2 and averaged 20.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists during the tourney. He was named to the All-Final Four team. On April 15, Rose declared for the 2008 NBA Draft. NBA career 2008-09 season Rose was selected 1st overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls, an unlikely event considering that Chicago had only a 1.7% chance of capturing the top pick in the draft lottery held that May. He was selected to the U.S. Select Team to scrimmage and prepare National Team for the Olympics in Beijing. Jay Triano praised him for going against the veteran All-Stars. He later credited the experience. In mid-July, he played two games in the Orlando Pro Summer League until forced out by tendinitis in his right knee, ending his summer. Rose played in all eight games of the preseason for the Bulls, as well as the regular season. He started his rookie year strong, becoming the first Bulls draftee to score 10 points or more in his first 10 games since Michael Jordan (1984-85 season) and eventually earned Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honors for November by averaging 18.9 points and 6.1 assists on nearly 50 percent shooting. He followed up with a equally impressive second month, scoring 20 points and handing out 13 assists (a career high) against the New Jersey Nets in a late-December game, his fourth double-double in 28 career games, to become the fifth rookie in Bulls history to record a 20-point, 13-assist game, joining Kirk Hinrich, Michael Jordan, Reggie Theus and Jay Williams. He was again named East Rookie of the Month despite a slight decrease in his statistics (16.3 points, 6.2 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game on 46 percent shooting.) Rose has been invited to the Rookie Challenge and Skills Challenge in the upcoming 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona. Player profile Rose uses his athleticism to create plays for himself and teammates. After using an assortment of dribbling moves such as crossovers and driving to the rim, Rose is a threat to use both hands to finish, or pass to a open teammate. When looking for contact, Rose alters his body in mid-air, creating a potential three point play or simply scoring unscratched. Weaknesses of Rose include his free throw shooting, a sub par 71.2% in college and so far about 78% in the NBA and turnovers, 2.7 in the NCAA and 2.6 in the pros. Rose is also criticized for poor shooting mechanics beyond 17 feet, contributing to a 28% three point percentage. Personal life Rose's family includes his mother and three older brothers Dwayne, Ray and Allan. He often went to his grandmother's house nearby in his Eaglewood neighborhood. She was the one who gave him his nickname "Pooh", which references the fact that he had yellowish skin and a slightly chubby appearance like Winnie-the-Pooh when he was born. Rose has a tattoo on his left biceps depicting a wizard holding a staff in one hand and a basketball in the other below the word "Poohdini". The entire image is below the word "Poohdini." A South Side native, Rose is also a Chicago White Sox fan. He has thrown the first pitch twice for the team; once in 2007 after repeating as a state champion and in a July 2008 against the Chicago Cubs Rose has signed a shoe deal with Adidas for an undisclosed amount of money. He has also signed with Wilson Sporting Goods. His agent is former Bulls guard B.J. Armstrong. Career statistics High school College NBA Regular season |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Chicago | 32 || 32 || 37.4 || .474 || .333 || .793 || 3.7 || 6.1 || 0.9 || 0.2 || 17.4 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 32 || 32 || 37.4 || .474 || .333 || .793 || 3.7 || 6.1 || 0.9 || 0.2 || 17.4 Correct as of January 2 Accomplishments and records NBA * November 2008 Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month * December 2008 Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month ** Conference USA Freshman of the Year ** Conference USA Player of the Week for games between December 17 through the 23rd ** 2K Sports College Hoops Classic All-Tournament Team High school * Sophomore year (2004-2005) ** Parade Magazine 2005 All-American Third Team * Junior year (2005-2006) ** Class AA State Championship ** Parade Magazine 2006 All-American Fourth Team ** All State Illinois 2006 ** EA Sports 2006 All-American Second Team * Senior year (2006-2007) ** Class AA State Championship ** All State Illinois 2007 ** MaxPreps.com All-America First Team ** Slam Magazine 2007 First Team ** Illinois Mr. Basketball 2007 ** 2007 McDonald's All-American ** MidStateHoops.com 2007 Class AA Player of the Year Notes External links * DRoseHoops.com Official Webside Statistics * * College statistics * Scout.com Profile Profiles * Rivals.com Profile * NBADraft.net Profile * DraftExpress Profile * USA Basketball Bio * CollegeHoops.net Bio